Monday, August 10, 2009

Անծայրածիր Տափաստաններ:

Yesterday was a pleasant day so we pulled the top down and went for a drive through the rural areas in Indiana. As an Armenian who originated in a small mountainous country, I love the endless steppes of the US: let me loose and I will drive a thousand miles non stop. But I digress.

It is in the corn and soy fields of the Mid-West that you realize why this country is so almighty. 4.6% of the population are in the agriculture and yet the country is self sufficient in food production and manages to feed a large chunk of the world population as well. In the process we have managed to destroy the nature (Indiana was mainly wetlands before the people started draining the land and cutting down the woods) but that's the price we are going to pay.

Fortunately, despite being called tree-hugging nut cases, there is a large chunk of progressive people who fight to preserve whatever little has remained. Going against special interests in the bio-agriculture, chemical, fast food and mass farming interests, and greed in general, is not easy but they still manage to have victories now and then.